Cure
by VeryHarryWhovian
Summary: It's Ariadne Winter's seventh year...again! The war has ended and Voldemort is dead, leaving Hogwarts safe again. Among Ariadne are her two best friends, but also the infuriating Draco Malfoy! However, when an unexpected letter arrives, what is bad when something good could come out of it in the end?
1. Beginnings and Pasts

**Here's the first chapter to my first story, Cure, featuring Draco Malfoy and an OC. I'm not sure on how often I'll be updating yet, but don't forget to follow/favorite and review!**

**Chapter 1: Beginnings and Pasts**

If I could name two things I hated most in the world, they would be Draco Malfoy, and well...nothing. There was nothing I hated more than Malfoy. He was an arrogant, selfish, rich bad-boy who thought too much of himself. I was sitting under a tree near the lake feeding my leftover breakfast to the giant squid when he came up to me.

"Decided to ditch breakfast, huh," he said. There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice, just enough for me to get irritated, like he knew I would.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" I replied back, trying to sound bored and indifferent without a care in the world. I knew that would be hard to believe, I had stormed out of the Great Hall in the middle of breakfast, angry at my house, Slytherin, and the sorting hat for putting me into it. Don't get me wrong, even if I didn't agree with everything or everyone in my house, I loved it. However, that morning, I came to breakfast in a totally normal mood, when I saw Malfoy taunting some first years. Sure, they were from Gryffindor, but a seventh year was scary no matter what house you were in. So I marched over to him, and told him off.

"Malfoy, stop it! I can't believe you, a prefect and all!" I was mad beyond all reasons. Prefects were supposed to help first years and other younger students around, not show off to them, and tease and taunt them.

"Oh, and who's gonna stop me? Professor Slughorn? Because we all know just how much he would do, don't we?" He replied back with a smirk on his face that I wanted to slap off. I told the first years to hurry away, and not to worry. They looked back at me appreciatively, and not saying a word, scurried away. I turned back to him ready to come back with a reply, like I usually did. I realized I was out of ideas, though, and he was right. Professor Slughorn would do absolutely nothing. He didn't hate me, but he loved Draco Malfoy, and was useless anyway, in areas of discipline. I could, as a prefect myself, take away points from his house, but why would I do that to my own house? My only other option was to turn smartly on my heel, and march away without saying anything.

Fuming, I reached the Slytherin table, flung my bag down, and started grabbing at food, not really caring what I was eating. My friend Taylor, or T-Squared as we sometimes called her, looked at me curiously. Taylor's nickname came from her very interesting name, Taylor Taylor, which her mom had named her after obsessing after that name since she was a kid for reasons no one knew. When she met a man with the last name of Taylor, she knew he was meant for her, so they fell in love, and had a baby girl, naming her Taylor even with protests from Mr. Taylor. When I met her six years ago when we were first years, I had thought it was the weirdest thing I had ever heard and assumed it as a Muggle thing, like her parents, but she had assured me it was most certainly not.

"You okay, Ariadne?" she asked me precariously, glancing back at where Malfoy was. Taylor knew me, I got mad at almost anything Malfoy said or did.

"Yeah, fine!" I almost shouted.

"Okay, okay, just making sure," she said, putting her hands up in surrender. Malfoy came and sat down smoothly two seats from me, next to my other best friend, Jake Springer, who had given Taylor her well loved nickname. The three of us were the oddest Slytherin's. My whole family was from Gryffindor, Taylor was Muggle-born, which was super rare for a Slytherin, and Jake was pure-blood, but his family wasn't on Voldemort's side in the war. The three of us found each other to be similar, and in the same house. Though it seemed like we weren't in the right house, the Sorting Hat made no mistakes, and it was our ambition to be great that made the cut. It didn't take long for us to become best friends.

"Hey Springer," said an arrogant voice two seats over. "Wanna trade seats? It's no fair that you always get to sit next to Winters. Give someone else a chance!" I knew he wanted to wind me up, but I didn't care at this point if he got his way. I sprang out of my seat, hastily grabbing two pieces of toast, and stormed out of the Great Hall in fury.

"I asked if you decided to ditch breakfast, Winters," he said, his voice pulling me out of the past hour and bringing me back to reality. "I wouldn't ask if I didn't want to know."

"I don't have to answer to you, Malfoy. You have no power over me." My voice was edged with a tone of hate mixed with sassiness.

"Alright, suit yourself, but I'm not leaving until I get an answer. Why do you hate me so much?" His question surprised me. I raised my eyebrows slightly, but said nothing. "Take your time," he said, sitting down and leaning on another tree next to me. I did nothing but turn away slightly and toss the rest of my toast into the lake. I turned to get up, and ignore him completely, but he stopped me by grabbing my forearm. Leaning in close, he said, "I asked you a question, Winters. Just tell me, and then I won't bother you." I couldn't lie to myself that his closeness had no effect on me, but I pretended on the outside it did. I may not have liked him, but I wasn't stupid. He was attractive, no doubt. His hair was slightly ruffled and his deep grey eyes bore into my, equally deep, yet clear, midnight blue eyes. I stared back at him with as much force as him, but with a different energy. He was trying to use his charm against me. It, however, did not work on me, unlike how it did on every other girl in the school. My stare was charged with fiery hate and disgust. "Please?" he added.

"Alright, fine," I said, sighing. "I thought it was obvious, but I guess it isn't. I don't actually hate you though, you know." The words slipped out of my mouth before I could even acknowledge them as true, but I immediately realized that they were. I might say it to myself all the time, but Malfoy wasn't bad enough for me to hate him. "You just really irritate me. I mean, you think you're so cool, yet you're so arrogant and you've got this whole bad-boy thing, you tease anyone who isn't as "great" as you are, yet you aren't so great because you're a horrible person for what you did in the war." As soon as I said those last words, I regretted them. I knew Malfoy was a changed person, and in the war, he had no choice if he wanted to stay alive. I saw the expression on his face change immediately, and I mentally slapped myself for saying that. I might not have liked him, but I knew any mention of the war caused him pain. That's probably why he decided to come back and repeat his seventh year like a few others did, so he wouldn't have to live in places that would remind him of his past choices, and could at least try and forget. He started to turn away, but I caught his arm and stared at him. "Wait, I didn't mean it, I'm sorry. I know you had no choice." My words seemed to have no effect on him now, though. He had already blocked me out.

"Yeah, well, you know what else I had none of? A family, a home, not a house, love, choices, and so many other things. You have parents that love you, and normal ones too. I don't even get how you're a Slytherin. You're a much better person than all of us." His remark about me being in Slytherin was my burden. He had hit a heavy spot.

"My parents were in Gryffindor," I replied softly. "I've always been an outcast, not only to my family, but to our school house. Sure, people like me, but they don't get me. Slytherin's aren't really 'bad'. We might be meaner, but we're mostly just ambitious. I've always wanted to do a lot in life. Be loved, love others. Do great things. So when I do things like tell you off, or try to do great things, people think I'm being like a Gryffindor or something. But it's really the Slytherin in me that's talking. To be the one that's great, that's the ambitious part of me. I mean, I don't do it just for that. I can't stand to see people hurt, but I'm not a complete outsider." I don't really know why I told him all of this. I guess it felt like he could understand me. He never wanted to be any part of the war, especially on the side he was on.

"I guess I never got that either," he said, surprising me with a half-normal comment.

"Yeah, whatever," I replied back, starting to get up. He moved away from me, which surprised me.

"You can go now," he told me, like I couldn't have before.

"Ugh, don't tell me what I can and can't do!" I stood up, picking my bag up, and marched away feeling whatever had just happened between us in that somewhat heart to heart was over. It was Draco Malfoy, after all, what could I expect?

**Oooh, things are already starting to heat up a little bit. Tell me how you like it, and hopefully chapter 2 will be up shortly! ~VeryHarryWhovian**


	2. Misunderstandings and Mistakes

**Here's the second chapter! Oh, and I realized I forgot to put a disclaimer for the first chapter so here it is.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.**

**Please review and follow/favorite, and thanks for reading. I hope you like it :)**

**Chapter 2: Misunderstandings and Mistakes**

Malfoy was on my mind for a few days. We didn't talk, but our conversation still bothered me. Why did I feel like he understood me, or even that I could tell him my problems? It made no sense to me, when he wouldn't even give me a backward glance. I decided he must be up to something, so right after Potions a week after the incident, I confronted him.

"What are you upto?" I asked him, narrowing my eyes.

He looked surprised and opened his mouth to speak when I interrupted him and continued. "You don't think I'm _that _stupid, do you? I confessed to you a huge secret, for some reason, and then you don't even talk to me? Obviously you plan to tell everyone in the school. Or," I said, my eyes widened, "you already told the whole school!"

Malfoy opened his mouth to speak again. "No, NO, how could you do—"

"Winters, gosh, calm down," he said, startling me by grabbing my arm. "I haven't told anyone, I just didn't talk to you about it because I assumed you didn't like to, and didn't want to talk to me by the way you stalked off last week."

I felt my face turning red. He could be lying, but it was obvious he wasn't. "And wait," he added. "That was a secret?" he finished with his typical Malfoy smirk.

"Oh, just, ugh," I said, mentally telling myself off for the bad comeback. _Smooth, Ariadne, smooth, _I thought, storming away.

"No, wait," said a voice coming from behind me. He used my elbow to turn me around, until I was facing him again. "Sorry," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

Did I just hear right, Draco Malfoy saying sorry? "What, why are you looking at me like that?" he, for once, actually sounded confused.

"Nothing, it's just, I wasn't expecting that. You saying sorry I mean." I closed my gaping mouth and was slowly inching away, trying to get away from this conversation.

"Oh, well, it's not like I'm mannerless. I can actually be quite a gentleman. Care to walk with me to Transfigurations?" Malfoy was back, the same never ending demeanor.

I just rolled my eyes, before walking away. Surprisingly, he let me go. I glanced back, and saw him looking at me. He just waggled his fingers at me. I barely had time to turn around before he could see me smile.

Thirty minutes into Transfigurations, Malfoy and I were the only ones in the class to successfully turn our black cats into pumpkins. It was part of our Halloween week since it was on Friday. Professor McGonagall was feeling extra nice and was making all the lessons this week fun, with no homework.

"How did you already finish, Ariadne?" Taylor's blonde hair was pulled back from her face in a messy bun, loose strands falling out and into her face. I reached out and tucked a piece behind her ear. She mumbled a word in response that sounded roughly like, "thanks".

"No problem, and I don't really know how I finished. Try making your movements more sharp." She fixed them so they were so stiff that they were jerking. "Not _that_ stiff. Be relaxed yet still sharp."

"I'm trying!" She said, frustrated. I held her hand, and guided it until her movements were about right.

"Like this. Now do it on your own," I said. She kept doing it until two minutes later, Jake, on the other side of her yelled in delight.

"I got it! Hey, that wasn't so bad after all." T-Squared just simply looked at him, sighed, and then put her head on her desk. I stroked her hair, in a way so that she knew I was there for her.

Comforting my friend, I didn't see Malfoy come up from behind me and stare at my pumpkin. It was when he started hitting it when I noticed him. It was the most peculiar scene, me comforting Taylor and Malfoy hitting a pumpkin, while Jake was jumping for joy.

"_What_ are you _doing_?" I asked exasperated, turning towards him. "Why in the world are you hitting my pumpkin?"

All he said was, "It's not as good as my pumpkin." I was lost for words. What was he doing?

"What?" I asked dumbfounded. I was so confused.

"I said it's not as good as my pumpkin. And I'm not hitting it, I'm patting it to see how good of a pumpkin it is. That's how you find out."

How in the world would he know that? I mean, I seriously doubted Draco Malfoy, who was rich and probably had a bunch of servants to take care of things like buying groceries.

"I know that," I snapped. "However, I wouldn't think you would've known that, seeing you've probably never stepped in a market in your life! And so what if my pumpkin isn't as good as yours? It seems like mine was the first in the class to be transformed, not yours!"

"Relax, Winters, gosh, you don't have to get so uptight about everything. I was just teasing you. A little competitiveness is good for us all, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I agree, but there's clearly no competition between the two of us," I said, smiling. My great comback skills were back, and at the right time.

"I know, I guess I'm just too good for you, huh?" There was a sort of challenge in his eyes, he was daring me to say something back.

"You're also very funny, Draco. Stop joking around." Whoops, did I just call him Draco? I saw his eyes widen. Damn, he must've noticed.

"Draco? Oh, so are we getting all chummy now? Ariadne," he added with a wink.

"God, Malfoy, get over yourself. I called you Draco because I was being sarcastic. You might joke around, but it's not funny," I said, quickly covering up my blunder. I heard Taylor snort next to me. She might be able to see through my white lie, but Malfoy wouldn't. I elbowed her, hard.

"Ow!" She cried. Her wand jerked to the right, and she brought it down with a loop. All of a sudden, her cat turned into the biggest, orangest, pumpkin I've ever seen. "Oh. My. Gosh. Finally! I did it, Ariadne. Thank you so much! I love you!" She was more excited than I'd seen her in a while. She threw her arms around me.

"Did you just," Jake said, "elbow her into getting the spell right? She didn't even say it." I laughed.

"I don't know, I guess I must've. Someone close enough to her must've said the spell, or maybe her wand was enough. I don't know," I repeated. I was a bit shocked, but it was hilarious and really fun to see T-Squared so happy.

The bell rang then, signaling the end of class. I wrote my name on my pumpkin, turned it in at the front of the classroom, and then packed my bag, throwing it over my shoulder. Taylor, Jake, and I walked out of the room, and started heading to the common room with a free period all to ourselves.

"Oh, my gosh!" Taylor gushed. "He was so flirting with you! Maybe he likes you!"

"Malfoy? Ew, no. He flirts with every girl he sees." Malfoy? Like me? As if!

"But it wasn't just that. You should've seen the way he was looking at you, like he thought you were really...different. Unique."

"Okay, that just sounds creepy, like I'm a possession. Which I am _not_ because that's completely and utterly sexist. And anyway, why would he like me? He barely even really knows me," I said.

"Well Ariadne, you're smart, and funny, and sarcastic, and really sweet, and also a very good person," she said, adding in all the "ands" to make her point. "Oh," she said. "And you're also gorgeous. Which would make Draco Malfoy's day."

I gawked at her. "I am _not_ 'gorgeous'," I replied. She responded with a snort.

"Yes you are. You should see all the guys stare at you. And that makes you even awesomer. That you don't know you're beautiful."

"Um, okay, then...thanks?" Hmm...I was pretty? I never really thought about that, but according to Taylor I was. Then, Jake surprised me by speaking up.

"Yeah, you are really pretty. Like, your eyes. There's just, something about you, that's...pretty," he said, with a look on his face that looked like he was in a daze.

"Okay then. Thanks, you guys. That's really nice of you to say."

"Well, it's true," said Taylor, shrugging. I just smiled.

**Tell me what you guys think. Hopefully things aren't moving too fast? Stay tuned for chapter 3. ~VeryHarryWhovian**


	3. Excitement and Misfortunes

**So here's chapter 3! What happens in this chapter is the basis for the whole story, and most of the plot comes from here. **

**Please, tell me if there's any constructive criticism you could give me. I like hearing from people, and I haven't gotten a single review yet, so I would really appreciate it.**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter, or anything from it. The brilliant J.K. Rowling owns everything.**

**Chapter 3: Excitement and Misfortunes**

Winter was approaching fast. A few weeks had passed since my last encounter with Draco. He hadn't so much as given me a backward glance since then. It was now mid November, so Hogsmeade was coming up. A sign was in the Slytherin common room letting us know of the details.

**Hogsmeade**

**November 23**

**Welcome to all students from years 3 to 7 with a signed**

**permission slip from a parent/guardian.**

I couldn't wait. I loved going to Hogsmeade, especially in the winter. With the exciting news, I felt a surge of joy, and started practically skipping out of the dungeons, and towards the Great Hall.

Then I realized I had forgotten to wait for Taylor and Jake, so I turned around. And walked straight into Draco Malfoy.

"Oh, not you, not now!" I groaned. Way to ruin my awesome mood.

"I take it you're not very happy to see me, then?" he replied, his eyebrows raised.

"It's not that, really, it's just I'm not in the mood for being annoyed by you. I mean, I never am," I said, adding quickly, before he could get the impression that I _ever_ was in the mood. "But I'm in a really good mood right now, and I don't want to ruin it."

"Oh, alright then, I'll leave you to whatever you were doing before," he said. My mouth dropped open. I wouldn't have been so weirded out, but he sounded one hundred percent serious, and there was nothing else in his voice.

"Malfoy?" I called out to him, who was still walking away.

"Yeah?" he said, turning his head.

"Thanks," I said with a smile.

He laughed. "No problem." Then he turned around completely, and held out his hand. "Friends?" he asked.

Now it was my turn to laugh. "I'm not sure that I'm completely ready for _that_ yet, but truce?"

"Yeah, truce," he said, shaking my outstretched hand. I felt myself start to blush, so I quickly turned around and started back towards the common room. "But don't think that means I'm going to stop annoying you. Oh boy, the trouble's just started," he called out from behind me.

Yet this time, his little banter wasn't quite as annoying. In fact, it was kind of endearing. In response to him, I just shook my head and laughed. I turned around, and he was grinning. I gave a little wave to him before turning the corner.

Three days later, it was the morning of Hogsmeade. My awesome mood had lasted all throughout the school week. Surprisingly, bumping into Malfoy had actually boosted it a little. Now when we passed each other, he would wave or smile and I would then wave or smile back. There wasn't any banter, but I wasn't relieved yet, because I knew it would be back soon. He had promised.

I sat down at Slytherin's table to eat breakfast when to my delight, an owl dropped a letter to me. It wasn't just any owl too, it was my older sister's.

Gemma was like my best friend. I told everything to her, even though she didn't live with us anymore. She was an editor of the Daily Prophet, so I barely got to see her, even during breaks, but I still sent letters to her a lot, and told her stuff when I saw her.

For example, in my fifth year, I had this ridiculous crush on Blaise Zabini, because of how "hot" he was. It was incredibly stupid, because I'd barely ever talked to him. When I found out that he liked Pansy Parkinson, my enemy, my crush on him was crumbled into pieces, and I never looked at him again.

I opened up the letter quickly, and started reading it, my stomach dropping as I read two lines. Halfway down the page, tears were streaming down my face. I shoved it in my cloak, and ran to the bathroom. There I sat on the toilet lid, and got it out again. It read:

_Dear Ariadne,_

_ I don't really know how to start this letter, so I guess I'll just get right to it. I have cancer. In my brain. They found tumors there, and they say the chance of me making it isn't that big. Even with magic. I guess even wizards can't escape cancer, huh? I would tell you that I'm going to be okay, but I'm not going to lie to you. Hell, I can't even lie to myself. I'm trying to be strong, but honestly? I'm so, freaking scared. I sent this letter to you first, before even Mom and Dad, because if I die, and if there's some kind of afterlife or whatever, you're the one that I'll miss the most. I love you so, so much, and nothing will change that. Stay strong, and I'll keep you posted._

_Love,_

_Gemma_

I started sobbing, yet the tears weren't coming fast enough. I felt like _I _was going to die, not my sister. I hugged the letter to my chest and sat in the same spot for who knows how long. It was no doubt my friends were wondering where I was.

After a while, I felt the tears start running out. Don't get me wrong, I would've still been crying if I could've, but my mouth felt parched, and my head was pounding.

I made my way out of the stall, and washed my face in the sink and then looked in the mirror. I looked horrible. My eyes were red and puffy, and my lips chapped. My hair was still in the ponytail it was in before, but it had sagged down so it just hung limply down my back, the curls going everywhere.

I made my way out of the bathroom, and glanced at a nearby clock. According to it, I had been in there for two hours. I only had half an hour till we had to leave, but now I wasn't so sure that I wanted to go.

With my feet moving separately from my mind, I found myself in front of the common room. I said the password, and it swung open. Entering, I saw Taylor and Jake sitting in the armchairs by the fire. When they looked up, I saw a little bit of worry etched in their faces. Taylor must've sensed something bad had happened, though, because her voice was soft and gentle when she talked.

"Hey, girl, what's wrong?" she asked. I opened my mouth to reply when I found another set of tears was coming on. So much for me being completely tear-ified. I started taking deep breaths, but it was too late, and I burst out crying again.

Taylor just hugged me hard, and we sat down, Jake sitting next to me, stroking my hair. Eventually, my sobs turned to gasps, and Taylor decided it was a good time to ask me. "Spill," was all she said.

"H-have you ever had a s-situation that was t-totally horrible and completely out of your control?" I said, stuttering and pausing. It was probably the longest time it took for me to say a sentence. I was generally a fast talker. Taylor shook her head, while Jake kinda shrugged, looking confused.

I didn't feel like talking anymore, so I just thrust the letter at Taylor. She shifted me over to Jake. When they were done reading, I saw tears start filling Taylor's eyes, and felt Jake tightened his arms around me. He kissed the top of my head, and squeezed me. It might sound weird, but it was totally platonic, and sort of "protective older brother".

"It's going to be okay," he said. "We're there for you, and no matter what, we'll never leave you. Okay?" I tried to say, "okay" back, but by face was smashed somewhere in between two of the top five people I loved most in the world. Jake just ruffled my hair.

"Do you still want to go to Hogsmeade? It might help you feel a little better," asked Taylor.

"I don't know..." I responded. "I guess, yeah, it'll still be fun, and I need to be a little distracted for a while. When we come back, then I can write a response to Gemma."

"Sounds like a plan," said Jake.

"You do know I love you guys, right?" I said.

"Yeah, and we love you too."

**I hope this wasn't too sad! The next chapter will be Hogsmeade, so stay tuned for more Draco :) ~VeryHarryWhovian**


	4. Abandoned Stores and Forgotten Wands

**Wow, I haven't updated this in a while! I've been writing this story on the side, but without posting it, however I thought I'd give posting a second chance.**

**So here's Chapter 4, and hopefully I'll get some reviews or favorites this time?**

**Disclaimer: Everything except what belongs to me belongs to J.K. Rowling :)**

**Chapter 4: Abandoned Stores and Forgotten Wands**

I stepped out of The Three Broomsticks, the cold air blasting me nearly off my feet. We had spent about an hour in there, and I had to admit, it had made me feel better, especially when Jake had set a tall glass of butterbeer in front of me. The three of us wrapped ourselves tighter in our winter wear, and huddle closer together for warmth. Then we started walking, our destination unknown. We walked for about two minutes when Jake stopped, causing us to stop since we were all kind of tangled in each other.

"Wanna go in?" Jake asked, pointing at the store in front of us, Honeydukes. All of a sudden, I found my throat close up, and my eyes started to fill with tears.  
>Honeydukesreminded me of my sister, it was her favorite store in Hogsmeade. I had so many memories of us when we were younger in that store, taking as many free samples as we could until they would kick us out, or scaring each other with the Chocolate Frogs.<p>

Before my friends could see me cry, I mumbled something about finding a restroom, and dashed off. I could see that Taylor was holding my wand-it must have fell out of my cloak-and was about to come after me, but Jake stopped her, probably telling her to give me some time alone.

I found a door along a wall that looked like some random closet. _A good place to hide_, I told myself. I yanked the door open, and went inside, closing it behind me. There were a few small windows at the top of the walls which allowed some daylight to come inside, but it was late fall, so the room was still pretty dark. And cold.

I sat down in front of the door, and rubbed my arms to try and get some blood going. While doing that, I got a good look of the room. It was actually quite big, and not a closet at all. It looked like it was probably a store once upon a time, but got closed down or something. There were a few shelves lined up against the wall. I was scanning the whole room, when all of a sudden, I saw a person. Staring at me. And since I was sitting down, with a strange person in the room, the natural thing for me to do would be to scream. So I did. The person narrowed his eyes, and his face turned to surprise.

"Winters?" he said, puzzled. I'd know that voice anywhere. It belonged to one particular platinum-blonde, grey eyed boy in Slytherin who generally annoyed me with his dialogue.

"Malfoy!" I exclaimed, jumping back and swiping at my cheeks to wipe away any tears before he could notice that I was crying. "What in the world are you doing here?" I asked him, trying to be inconspicuous while I reached up and turned the door handle from my spot on the floor. No way I wanted Malfoy to see me in this state. The door, however, had a mind of it's own, and wouldn't give way. _Whatever, I'll deal with it later_, I thought to myself.

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?" he asked, like he owned the place or something.

"I, um, got lost?" I said, making it up quickly. He snorted.

"Right, you got 'lost' in a place you've probably known all your life, and then decided to go see if anyone could help you in an abandoned room." He looked like he was annoyed I was here or something, which was kind of weird, yet really annoying to myself.

"Hey, I have as much right to be here as you do, okay? So why don't you just tell me why you're here, and then I can leave. And find another closet to hide in."

"Why are you hiding?" he asked, truly curious.

I just sighed and decided to say, "I'll tell you if you tell me."

"Okay. I'm here because this place means a lot to me," he said. I just raised my eyebrows. Why would an abandoned store mean a lot to him. He seemed to understand my confusion, so he continued, saying, "My aunt used to own this place. It was her store, up until I was eight. She died, so her store closed down and it just started rotting away. I have so many happy memories from here. She was my dad's brother's wife, and was completely the opposite of both of them. She actually cared about me. I like to come here when I miss her. What about you, why are you hiding?"

For once in my life, I felt completely and utterly sorry for Draco Malfoy. He sounded so...lonely. And just extremely sad. I crawled over to the other corner where he was and sat down next to him. He seemed to notice the tears on my face that I'd tried to wipe away. Suddenly, I felt another pang of realization that my sister was probably going to die, and burst into tears. "Hey, Ariadne, what's wrong?" he asked, using my first name. His voice was gentle, and totally different from the tone I usually associated with him.

I just shook my head, so he pulled my head onto his shoulder, and I cried myself out. Oddly, it was actually pretty comforting. I'd never seen this side of Malfoy before, and it surprised me. That a person so self-centered and annoying could actually seem to care for someone he didn't really know.

He didn't say anything for a long time. All he did was be next to me while I cried. I didn't say anything either. A few minutes later I had stopped gasping, and the tears were just flowing now, without a sound. The only noise in the room was his even breath, and my slightly staggered one. I looked up, a tear clinging to my eye.

"Sorry," I sniffed, wiping my face with my palm. He raised an eyebrow, confused. I gestured to his clothes, now sopping wet. "Your cloak, and probably shirt..."

"Oh, what that?" he asked, almost laughing. "It's nothing a little magic won't fix," he said grinning. Just for a moment my mind forgot everything that was wrong. I realized that I loved his smile, crooked and endearing. Kind of sweet in fact. Not a sneer smile, or a sarcastic smile. A real one. He rummaged around his cloak for his wand. By the second, I saw his smile start fading, turning into an annoyed look.

"Aww, where'd my wand go?" he complained. A look of realization came across his face, and he slapped his forehead into his palm. "Oh yeah," he chuckled. "Stupid Blaise, good for nothing guy." With no explanation, he shrugged and turned to me, his hand outstretched. "Wand please," he said, popping the "p". I reached into the pocket of my cloak, grabbing thin air. All of a sudden, a thought occurred to me.

"Oh, _shit_," I exclaimed. "My wand fell out of my cloak when I was making a run for it. I had totally forgotten about that. Taylor picked it up, and was about to hand it back, but I was already gone. And I tried the lock earlier, when I had just come in. It's locked from the inside. Ugh," I moaned, sliding down against the wall behind me.

"Wait," said Malfoy, like he had finally comprehended the details of our conversation. "You're telling me that you don't have your wand, and neither do I? And the door's locked? So we're stuck here?" he grinned. I stared at him like he was crazy. Before I could ask if he had heard me right, he continued on. "Lucky you, Winters. Most girls would die to have an unknown amount of time in a dark room with me." I stared at him in disbelief. Of _all _the times to be condescending and arrogant, he chose _now_. When I was pretty much freaking out. All I could do was stare at him. After a moment or two, I finally managed to get over my shock, and get some words out of my mouth.

"Are you kidding me? Are you freaking insane?" I managed to spit out. "Here I am, on the verge of a breakdown, and all you can do is be so," I stumbled, looking for the right word, "_you_?" That was the only way to describe it. His personality, his annoying "charm" and arrogance. "I can't believe you. And for a moment there, I thought you were-"

"Thought I was what?" he interrupted me before I could finish.

"Don't interrupt me!" I snapped. "Thought you were actually halfway decent." I said, finishing what I was about to say earlier. He didn't seem to be bothered one bit by my statement.

"You know if you actually tried looking for it, I can be halfway decent. Or perfectly decent! I know, it's a shocker!" he said, chuckling at his own joke. "You just get wound up so easily, it's like I can't even talk to you without you exploding in my face, and getting super defensive." he continued.

"I am not defensive, nor do I 'explode in your face'," I said, defensively.

He laughed. "My point exactly." All I did after that was scoff impatiently, and turn my head away from him. He was right, of course.

After giving me a minute to recollect myself, I stood up, dusted my legs off, and went to stand in front of the door. I took a deep breath, and turned the door handle, trying to push the door. Of course it didn't work, so next I tried slamming my body weight against it. That didn't seem to work either. I gave up after a few tries, mostly because I felt slightly embarrassed.

Malfoy was staring at me, and when he saw me looking, raised one eyebrow. I blushed, and mumbled something unintelligible about how it wouldn't open. He kept his eyebrow raised, simply saying, "You okay?" It took a lot of willpower to not let the tears that had just welled up brim over. This time, however, I wasn't crying only for the same reasons as five minutes ago. I heard him sigh. "Come here," he told me, not unkindly. I saw him sitting on the wall opposite from me.

I shook my head, a lump in my throat. I was looking at the ceiling, trying to let the light dry out the tears from my eyes. They still hadn't fallen. So far so good. Until I just broke. _So much for that_, I thought. I wasn't sobbing, thank god, but they were still streaming rapidly. I turned my back a bit, and wiped my face with my the sleeve of my cloak. Nothing seemed to be going my way today. Draco came over to me.

"You okay?" he asked again.

I shrugged, and said, "Why are you being so nice to me? I bet you think I'm a huge wimp, huh?"

His grey eyes clouded over before answering, exasperated, yet a little sad. "You really think that badly of me, Ariadne?" I noticed he used my first name which surprised me. "You're obviously extremely upset and hurt. Not even a jerk, like you think I am, would be mean to you at a time like this." I felt extremely guilty. He sounded really bothered by my comment.

"Malfoy, I didn't-" I started to say, but he didn't let me finish. I realized that I probably shouldn't have used his last name. It sounded cold, even to me.

"It doesn't matter, let's just try and get out of here," he said. His face was now closed off from any emotion. I tried putting my hand on his shoulder, but he brushed it off. I felt horrible, and extremely guilty. I never knew what I thought of Malfoy had an impact on him. I saw him pulling the door.

"I already tried, it won't-" I started to say before the door swung...inwards. I gasped, shocked by my own stupidity.

"Next time, try both pulling and pushing the door please," he said, irritated. Then, without another word he walked briskly out the door. Before I could call out for him to wait though, he was gone.

**I hope Draco isn't feeling too OOC! Next chapter is still in Hogsmeade, so let's see if I can keep up with posting more chapters. ~VeryHarryWhovian**


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